The Banner of Victory over Berlin
The Soviet Offensive in 1945
The Battle of Berlin was the final battle of the European
Theatre of World War II. A massive Soviet army attacked Berlin from the east. The battle
lasted from late April 1945 until early May. Before it was over, Adolf Hitler committed
suicide, and Germany surrendered five days after the battle ended.
Before the end of December ominous reports were received
by Guderian* – who, in this desperately late period of the war, had been made
chief of the German General Staff. German Army intelligence reported that 225
Soviet infantry divisions and 22 armoured corps had been identified on the front
between the Baltic and the Carpathians assembled to attack. But when Guderian presented
the report of these massive Soviet offensive preparations, Hitler refused to believe it,
exclaiming: “It’s the biggest imposture since Genghis Khan!* Who is responsible
for producing all this rubbish?”
The Soviet offensive opened on January 12, 1945. The Soviet commanders
took Warsaw in January 1945. The Polish plain was open to the Red Army. It started moving
thirty to forty kilometres a day, taking the Baltic states, Danzig, East Prussia, and
Poznan. As a result of the Red Army’s victories in the winter and spring of 1945 the
Soviet troops took up positions on the Oder for an assault on Berlin.
A counterattack by the newly created Army Group Vistula, under the
command of Heinrich Himmler*, failed by February 24. Acknowledging the Red Army’s
success Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill in his greeting sent on February
23, 1945 wrote: “The Red Army celebrates its twenty-seventh anniversary amid
triumphs… Future generations will acknowledge their debt to the Red Army as unreservedly
as do we who have lived to witness these proud achievements”.
Budapest fell on February 13 to the Red Army. The Germans had lost most
of Hungary. Romania and Bulgaria surrendered and declared war on Germany. On March 30 the
Red Army entered Austria and captured Vienna on April 13. On April 9, 1945 Kцnigsberg in East
Prussia finally fell to the Red Army and the Red Army drove on to Pomerania and
cleared the right bank of the Oder River.
VOCABULARY NOTES:
commit suicide покончить с собой
ominous зловещий, угрожающий
desperately отчаянно
intelligence разведка
identify опознавать
imposture обман
acknowledging признавая
triumph триумф, победа
debt долг
unreservedly безоговорочно, открыто
witness быть свидетелем
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES:
The Baltic
The Carpathians
Warsaw
Danzig
East Prussia
Poznan
The Oder
Budapest
Hungary
Romania
Bulgaria
Austria
Vienna
Konigsberg
Pomerania
WHO’s WHO:
Heinz Guderian (1888–1954), a German general and tank expert
who became one of the principal architects of armoured warfare and the blitzkrieg between
World Wars I and II. In the Russian campaign he reached the outskirts of Moscow before
being driven back in October 1941. During the winter of 1941–42, he was dismissed, but
he returned in March 1943 as inspector general of armoured troops. After the July 20,
1944, attempt on Hitler’s life, Guderian became acting chief of staff. Hitler’s
interference nullified most of Guderian’s actions, however, and he resigned on March 5,
1945.
Genghis Khan – original name Temujin (1167?–1227). A
Mongol conqueror, whose nomad armies created a vast Empire under his control, from China
to Russia.
Heinrich Himmler (1900–45) was a German National Socialist
(Nazi) official, notorious as the head of the Nazi police forces. As head of all German
police forces from 1936 to 1945 he carried out a ruthless program for the extermination of
Jews and the suppression of all opposition to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime. Hitler
appointed him minister of the interior in 1943, and in 1944 Himmler became director of
home-front operations and chief of the German armed forces operating within the borders of
Germany. In April 1945 he was captured by the British army. He was scheduled to stand
trial with the other German leaders as a major war criminal, but committed suicide shortly
after his arrest.
The Battle of Oder-Neisse
In the early hours on April 16 the offensive began with a
massive bombardment by thousands of artillery pieces, and Katyushas rockets which sustained
the barrage for days. Shortly afterwards and well before dawn Zhukov’s 1st
Belorussian Front (1BF) attacked across the Oder. Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Front (1UF)
attacked across the Neisse before the dawn the same morning. The 1BF was the stronger
force but it had a more difficult assignment and was facing the majority of the
German forces.
German army engineers turned the Oder’s flood plain into a swamp
by releasing the waters in a reservoir upstream. Behind this they built
three rings of defense which reached the outskirts of Berlin. These lines consisted
of Anti-tank ditches; Anti-tank gun emplacements; and an extensive network of
trenches and bunkers. The swampy ground proved to be a great hindrance and
under a German counter barrage, Soviet casualties were enormous. On April 18 the Soviet
Fronts made steady progress. On April 19, the 1BF broke through the final German line of
defence and nothing but broken German formations lay between them and Berlin. It was clear
to everyone that Germany’s defeat was only a matter of a few weeks.
VOCABULARY NOTES:
sustain поддерживать, подкреплять
barrage заградительный огонь
dawn рассвет
assignment задание, назначение
flood разлив, затопление
swamp болото
release освобождать, выпускать
reservoir водохранилище
upstream вверху по течению
outskirts окраина
emplacements оборудованная огневая позиция
bunker бункер
hindrance помеха, препятствие
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES:
The Neisse
The Encirclement of Berlin
On April 20 Russian artillery of the 1BF began to shell
the centre of Berlin and did not stop until the city surrendered. The Soviet plan was to encircle
Berlin.
 On
April 22 at his afternoon situation conference Hitler fell into a tearful rage.
He declared that the war was lost, he blamed the generals and announced that he would stay
in Berlin until the end and then kill himself.
By April 24 elements of the 1BF and 1UF had completed the
encirclement of the city.
On April 25 the Soviet 58th Guards Division of the 5th Guards
Army made contact with the U.S. 69th Infantry Division of the First Army on the Elbe
River.
Berlin’s fate was sealed, but the resistance continued. Fighting was heavy, with
house-to-house and hand-to-hand combat. The foreign contingents of the SS fought
particularly hard because they were ideologically motivated and they believed that they
would not live if captured.
On April 28 Hitler’s command to hold Berlin at all costs was
rejected.
On April 30 Soviet forces fought their way into the centre of
Berlin. At dawn they began to storm the Reichstag*. At two o’clock the Red Banner of
Victory was hoisted on the building by two sergeants M.Yegorov and
M.Kantaria.
Adolf Hitler committed suicide by taking cyanide and shooting himself.
On May 2 General Weilding, defence commandant of Berlin,
surrendered the city to the Red Army.
On May 8 the German Command signed an unconditional
surrender.
On May 9 the Soviet troops liberated Prague.
The Victory Parade of 1945
 On June 24, 1945 a victory parade was held in Moscow on Red Square.
During a mammoth victory parade Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov hailed
the Soviet Army as “the strongest army in the world”. The parade was one
of the most impressive in Soviet history, despite a driving rainstorm. The victorious
troops dragged around Red Square and hurled to the pavement in front of the Mausoleum
hundreds of German battle banners, including Hitler’s personal standard. Marshal
Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky commanded the parade, which was received by Georgy
Konstantinovich Zhukov. Marshals – Ivan Konev, Rodion Malinovsky, Leonid Govorov,
Alexander Vasilevsky and Kirill Meretskov and army generals Ivan Bagramian and Andrei
Yeremenko – took part in the parade, wearing all their decorations. The war in
Europe was over.
VOCABULARY NOTES:
shell обстреливать
encircle окружать
rage ярость
tighten сжимать, стягивать
sever рвать, разъединять
element (of a front) подразделение
panzer бронетанковый
seal окончательно решить
contingent личный состав
relieve освобождать, облегчать
hoist поднимать
sergeant сержант
cyanide цианид
mammoth громадный
hail приветствовать
hurl бросить с силой
pavement мостовая
mausoleum мавзолей
decorations награды
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES:
The Elbe
Magdeburg
Stettin
Schwedt
Prague
WHAT’s WHAT:
The Victory over Japan
On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Government, in fulfillment of its
obligations, declared war on militarist Japan. On August 9, the Red Army with the troops
of the Mongolian People’s Republic began combat operations against the Japanese troops.
It took a few days to rout Kwantung Army and liberate Manchuria, Southern Sakhalin, North
Korea and the Kuril Islands. The blows of the Red Army and Anglo-American combat
operations forced Japan to capitulate. On September 2, 1945 Japan signed the act of
unconditional surrender.
Japan’s capitulation marked the end of the Soviet Union’s Great
Patriotic War and of the Second World War as a whole.
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES:
Sakhalin
Korea
The Kuril Islands
TOPIC
Part II
After smashing the enemy troops at Kursk and lifting the
siege of Leningrad the initiative was fully in the hands of the Soviet Command. In the
spring, summer and autumn the enemy was driven from the Ukraine, Byelorussia, Moldavia and
the Baltic republics. All Soviet territory was liberated and the Red Army was steadily
moving westward.
The Soviet offensive opened on January 12, 1945. After a short period of time Poland, East
Prussia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Austria fell to the Red Army and the Soviet troops
took up positions on the Order for an assault on Berlin.
 The Battle of Berlin was the final battle of the European Theatre of
World War II. The massive Soviet army attacked Berlin from the east. The battle lasted
from late April 1945 until early May. Before it was over, Adolf Hitler committed suicide,
and Germany surrendered five days after the battle ended.
On April 30 the Soviet forces fought their way into the centre of
Berlin and the Red Banner of Victory was hoisted on the building of the Reichstag.
On May 2 the defence commandant of Berlin surrendered the city to the Red Army.
On May 8, 1945 the German Command signed an unconditional surrender.
On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Government, in fulfillment of
its obligations, declared war on militarist Japan. The blows of the Red Army and
Anglo-American combat operations forced Japan to capitulate. On September 2, 1945 Japan
signed the act of unconditional surrender. Japan’s capitulation marked the end of the
Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War and of the Second World War as a whole.
Victory Day
 May 9, 1945 was a historic day for which hundreds of millions of
people all over the world had waited. The Red Army together with its Allies won a great
victory over fascist Germany. The war was over. The four years of the war were long and
harsh. The road to Victory was hard. Over 27 million Soviet people – civilians and
soldiers – lost their lives. The Nazi turned 70.000 towns and villages into ruins. Our
country lost almost one-third of its national wealth. But the people withstood! Their
sacrifices brought the Red Army into the heart of Europe and determined the fate of those
nations for many years.
On May 9, 1945 cannons and fireworks exploded above the Kremlin to
mark the end of war in Europe.
TOPIC
Part III
The 9th of May is celebrated in our country as Victory Day.
It is a special holiday, different from all others. It is to war and labour veterans that
Russia owes its Great Victory in the bloodiest of all wars. It is a national holiday and a
very personal one. Sixty years have passed since that victory, but it is still in the
hearts and memory of people. Time cannot take that historic day away from people. There is
hardly a family in our country where those who fell for our Motherland are not
commemorated on the 9th of May.
Every year veterans come together to celebrate Victory Day and to remember their
brother-soldiers. They visit war memorials to honour the memory of the fallen. Former
front-line soldiers go to schools to share their war stories with the young generation.
The famous Soviet writer Konstantin Simonov said, “we, living people, have many rights.
We have the right to work in the name of our Motherland, and the right to defend it, the
right to love, the right to be happy. But we have no right to forget what our comrades
did in the name of Victory, in the name of Motherland, in the name of life on Earth.”
We will never forget…
 SUPPLEMENTARY
ACTIVITIES:
The Berlin City Council erected a modest memorial with a brass
plaque on it, reading: “Trifon Lukyanovich, First Sergeant of the Soviet Army,
saved a German child on this spot from SS bullets an April 25, 1945. Five days after this
heroic exploit he died in a military hospital from a bullet wound. May the glory of his
memory never fade.”
The famous monument in Treptov Park, designed by the Russian sculptor Yevgeni Vuchetich in
1946–1949, conveys the same idea.
PROJECT WORK:
Learn more about the history of this monument and its prototypes.
The first one is Trifon Lukyanovich, whose story was told by the writer
Boris Polevoi (1908–1981). Boris Polevoi was a front-line correspondent for Pravda
during the war. The story was first published in this newspaper and later was included
into the book What Makes a Hero (1982).
The second one is a private Nikolai Maslov, who saved a German child in a battle right
outside the Reichstag.
This episode was told to Vuchetich by the army commander Marshal Chuikov.
Louder than words…
ASSIGNMENTS:
I. Read the extract from the poem and say:
– Who the poem is devoted to;
– Who the poem is addressed to;
– What ideas of the Irish poet sound the same irrespective of time or nation.
The Memory of the Dead (extract)
We drink the memory of the brave,
The faithful and the few;
Some lie far off beyond the wave,
Some sleep in mountains, too;
All, all are gone; but still lives on
The fame of those who died;
All true men, like you, men,
Remember them with pride.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
They rose in dark and evil days
To right their native land;
They kindled here a living blaze
That nothing shall withstand.
Alas! That night can vanquish right –
They fell and passed away;
But true men, like you, men,
Are plenty here today.
John Kells Ingram*
kindle зажигать
blaze пламя
vanquish побеждать, покорять
II. Answer the questions:
1. Who in the poem is brave, faithful and few?
2. Who is true and plenty?
3. Can you give grounds for the author’s point of view?
4. Are faithful and brave people few nowadays?
5. Are heroic deeds characteristic of war time only?
6. What is heroism?
7. What is true patriotism?
8. Is there a place for heroism and patriotism nowadays?
WHO’s WHO:
John Kells Ingram (1823–1967), an Irish poet and scholar,
who was educated at Trinity College in Dublin and later appointed there professor of Greek
and English literature.
William Blake (1757–1827) an English poet, painter, and
engraver, who created a unique form of illustrated verse. His poetry, inspired by mystical
vision, is among the most original, lyric, and prophetic in the English language.
P. S. Sixty years have passed since those heroic and
tragic days. We are living in a different country today. Everything has changed: economy
and policy, money and food, standards and cost of living. Even its name. New heroes have
come, new fashions and new ways of thought. But we still hope and believe that cardinal
human virtues are eternal for every “true men, like you, men”. We live in a great
country, which deserves a better future. The future belongs to the young. But there is no
future without the past. We have no right to forget the people who perished in the prime
of life. They also dreamt to live long and be happy. It is our privilege that many wartime
veterans have lived to see the 21st century and we are their contemporaries. They need
care and moral support. It is not difficult to be tolerant and humane.
The Divine Image
To Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love
All pray in their distress;
And to these virtues of delight
Return their thankfulness.
For Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is God, our Father dear,
And Mercy, Pity, Peace, and Love
Is man, His child and care.
For Mercy has a human heart,
Pity a human face,
And Love, the human form divine,
And Peace, the human dress.
Then every man, of every clime,
That prays in his distress,
Prays to the human form divine,
Love, Mercy, Pity, Peace.
And all must love the human form,
In heathen, Turk, or Jew;
Where Mercy, Love, and Pity dwell
There God is dwelling too.
William Blake*
Live in peace, be happy, don’t be idle and take care…
By Elena Zubets, Moscow
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